Refrigeration – Display type – With air controlling or directing means
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-09
2001-02-06
Tapolcai, William E. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Display type
With air controlling or directing means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06182459
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a refrigerated case for highly-perishable food products, particularly meats. This type of case includes a display surface provided with a circulating current of cooled air. The air current is guided forward, via a circulation channel, across the display surface from the rear side of the case and back to the rear side, where it exits through an exit opening of the circulation channel that extends essentially over the case width and above the rear edge of the display surface.
A case of this type is known from, for example, G 83 16 262.3. In this case, a fan that sucks the air from the customer side of the case and blows it into the space surrounding the display surface via an exit opening on the service side is disposed in the floor space below the display surface. To filter airborne particles, etc., out of the circulating air, a hygienic filter is disposed in a downward-leading fall shaft on the customer side of the display surface. Despite this filter, microorganisms such as bacteria, fungus spores and the like inevitably collect and proliferate in the floor space, which constitutes a portion of the circulation channel, as well as in the remainder of the circulation channel. These microorganisms can then reach the display surface, unfiltered, with the air current. The fact that case devices, specifically a vaporizer and a fan, which are easily contaminated and are thus breeding grounds for microorganisms, are disposed in the floor space in the known case—a relatively inaccessible location—further promotes the proliferation of microorganisms in the floor space.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of the invention to improve a refrigerated case for food products of the aforementioned type with respect to hygiene. The solution to this object lies in a filter for filtering out airborne particles, bacteria and the like, the filter being flowed through by the circulating air current and being disposed in the exit opening of the circulation channel, completely covering the clear cross section of the channel. This arrangement ensures that the air that enters the space containing the products is essentially free of airborne particles, bacteria and the like. In any event, the air contains fewer such particles than when the circulated air flows through the entire space below the display surface and the adjoining section of the circulation channel, in which case the air can be infiltrated by microorganisms, particularly in the region of the vaporizer, a known breeding ground for microorganisms. A further, essential advantage is that the fan can practically be disposed in the immediate vicinity of the exit opening, upstream behind the filter. A slow and uniform circulating-air current is desirable in refrigerated cases for food products. For this reason, in the known refrigerated case, the fan is disposed relatively far from the exit opening, particularly in the floor space beneath the display surface, to avoid air swirling and local differences in air currents. A filter arranged in accordance with the invention thus has an air-purifying effect and simultaneously acts as an air-baffling element, ensuring a slow, uniform air current. Normally, a vaporizer is also disposed in the floor space, which is problematic in terms of hygiene, especially with inconsistent cleaning intervals, which is not infrequently the case.
In contrast, in the filter arrangement of the invention, it is easily possible to clean the fan behind the filter. To this end, the filter merely needs to be detachably, particularly pivotally, secured in the exit opening. It is further advantageous if the fan can pivot out of the exit opening about a pivoting axis that extends in the longitudinal direction of the case. Then the rear side of the fan can also be easily cleaned. It is also advantageous for the fan to be pivotable in this manner if—seen in the flow direction—the vaporizer is located directly behind the fan, so the vaporizer can be easily cleaned with suitable cleaning tools such as long-handled brushes, significantly lowering the inhibitory threshold for a thorough cleaning of the regions that are problematic in terms of hygiene.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3119241 (1964-01-01), Wile
patent: 4651536 (1987-03-01), Nax
patent: 83 16 262 (1984-03-01), None
patent: 93 16 571 (1994-02-01), None
Kelemen Gabor J.
Tapolcai William E.
Venable
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